Not A Regressor - Chapter 71

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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I Am Not a Regressor Chapter 71
Heart, Breath, Body (4)
I followed Han Manager out of the Association Building toward a structure about a hundred meters away.
A ten-story building shaped like an igloo.
The scent of iron and unidentifiable chemicals seeped from within.
“What is this place….”
“The Holy Relic Research Institute. It’s where we research and manufacture various equipment and weapons utilizing holy relics.”
Beep beep beep.
Han Manager entered a password and opened the institute’s door.
“Gorilla mister! What brings you here?!”
Tap tap tap tap tap!
The moment the door opened, a boy came rushing over with a bright smile.
He looked to be around middle school age.
A cute-looking boy with a small frame, shaggy brown hair, and large horn-rimmed glasses.
“I’m not a mister, I told you.”
I frowned at the approaching boy.
My already harsh expression became even more menacing.
“Puhahahaha!! Your face is so funny!!”
The boy stopped mid-run and burst into laughter, clutching his stomach.
“Sigh. This brat never changes.”
“Hehe. Sorry, mister.”
Were they close, or was this just his personality?
The boy grinned warmly and showed his playful side.
Han Manager chuckled and gently ruffled the boy’s shaggy hair.
“This brat is Kim Si-hu, the director of this research institute.”
“Hey! You’re the brain guy, right? I saw you on TV!”
Kim Si-hu extended his hand with a cheerful laugh.
“Nice to meet you.”
“Hehe! Wow~! I shook hands with the brain guy!”
He shook our clasped hands up and down enthusiastically.
‘So this is the brat he mentioned before.’
This boy must be the one who created my wire shooter.
And.
‘The brat Jang Seok-ho mentioned is likely Kim Si-hu as well.’
An exceptional holy relic craftsman at the Association.
I realized Jang Seok-ho had been referring to Kim Si-hu.
“Oh right! Are you still using the wire shooter I made for you back then?”
“I was using it well.”
“Huh?”
Kim Si-hu tilted his head in confusion.
“Why are you using the past tense?”
“Well, you see….”
It wasn’t easy to tell the person who’d made the weapon that I’d smashed it to pieces.
“It broke during a mission this time.”
Fortunately, Han Manager stepped in for me.
“Huh? It broke?”
Kim Si-hu’s eyes widened in shock.
“━That’s actually great!!”
He immediately beamed and threw both arms up in the air.
“Great? How is that great?”
What could possibly be great about this?
“Yeah! Hehe. I was so swamped back then that I totally rushed through making it!”
Wow.
That wire shooter was made in a rush?
“Sorry! I don’t have urgent work these days, so I’ll make you something way better!”
Kim Si-hu raised his hand excitedly and shouted.
‘This can’t be real.’
In this damned world, there was still such a bright, courteous, and excellent young man left.
“Hmm~ But that wire shooter is kind of tricky to make. I think I’ll need quite a bit of money… hehehe.”
In this damned world, he was just as greedy, rude, and cunning as everything else.
“Well, for whatever’s short, I’ll cover it out of my own pocket! Making weapons for you is fun!”
“From now on, I’ll address you as Master Kim Si-hu.”
“Uh, huh?”
Aaah!! He’s so dazzling!! I can’t even look at him directly!
“If there’s anything you need, just tell me, Master Kim Si-hu.”
“Hahaha! This guy’s fun! They said he was a tsundere on SNS!”
Kyaruru.
Kim Si-hu burst into bright laughter, clutching his stomach.
“Oh, right. But can you make me a spear too, besides the wire shooter?”
“A spear?”
“Yeah. I broke that one this time too.”
“Hmm. Spears aren’t fun though….”
Kim Si-hu pouted, clearly displeased.
“Well, I’ll make one for you. Oh! But I’m not using my own money for the spear, got it?”
He’s got his preferences down pat.
Well, it doesn’t really matter anyway.
We’ve got Han Manager’s wallet for that.
“The executives have been spending the budget too much lately, so there’s not much in the support fund….”
“I’m asking you, Junman.”
I trust my Junman hyung.
As I gazed at Han Manager with bright, sparkling eyes.
“Ugh. Understood. I’ll cover the spear crafting costs myself.”
I stopped him as he exhaled deeply and reached for his wallet.
“I was joking. Since it’s my weapon, I should use my own money.”
Honestly, I wanted to use the manager’s favor again this time.
‘Since I’ve already received so much.’
Even excluding the beef I’d eaten before, I owed him quite a debt.
Company funds would be one thing, but draining his personal savings felt wrong.
“Oh, Kwon O-jin.”
He looked at me with an expression of genuine emotion.
No.
If he gets moved by something like this, it actually makes me more embarrassed.
“Were you planning to break a savings account or something?”
“Not exactly… but it was an emergency fund I’d been saving for marriage.”
“Ah. Does Jun-man have a girlfriend?”
“…Not yet, but someday.”
“It won’t happen.”
His eyes wavered.
“Puhaha! Just kidding! It’ll happen soon!”
It won’t.
“Really?”
“Look at Jun-man’s bulging muscles! Women always go crazy over muscles, don’t they!”
“Right? Hahaha!”
Yeah.
Though if a man who looked like a gorilla that had escaped from a zoo had bulging muscles, people would go crazy in a different way.
“If we pull a good weapon this time, I’ll introduce you to a nice woman.”
“Really?”
No.
It’s a lie.
I don’t know any other women besides my sister and our goddess.
“Haha! Leave the weapon quality to me! I’ll push this little guy hard and create something amazing for you!”
Han Manager ruffled Kim Si-hu’s hair and thumped his chest.
‘Our Jun-man really is the best.’
The more I see him, the more I like him—not as a pushover, but genuinely.
“Come this way then. There’s something I need to check.”
Kim Si-hu grabbed my hand and pulled me somewhere.
A spacious area roughly 200 square feet.
Cameras were installed on various parts of the walls, but nothing else was visible.
“Alright. In here, swing this the way you normally would with a spear.”
Kim Si-hu handed me a long rod.
Though it was called a staff, it had considerable weight, as if forged from actual metal.
After grasping the staff.
“Hah.”
Standing in the center of the room, Kwon O-jin drew in a slow breath.
-Whoosh! Huff! Huff!
Thrusting, slashing, striking downward.
Following the sensations guided by Compass’s spear technique, I wielded the weapon with savage intensity.
After about five minutes of relentless practice.
“Okay. That’s enough, hyung.”
Beyond the glass window, Kim Si-hu raised both arms high, forming a circle.
“Do you need anything else?”
“This is sufficient.”
Kim Si-hu pressed several buttons, and nine monitors displayed footage of Kwon O-jin wielding the spear from nine different angles.
“Just wait a moment.”
Creak.
Kim Si-hu rose from his seat and donned the white lab coat draped over the chair.
The sight of the diminutive boy in a white coat that reached below his knees was rather comical.
But only for a moment.
“━I’m beginning.”
The familiar smile vanished from the boy’s face.
With mechanical precision, he began rapidly cycling through the nine monitors.
“Two hundred eighty-four thrusts. Five hundred ninety-two slashes. One hundred ninety-two downward strikes. Your style isn’t about maintaining distance with the spear—you’re the type to close in and deliver devastating cuts. Average stride length: one meter seventeen centimeters. You take remarkably wide steps. The primary grip position on the shaft is….”
Murmur, murmur, murmur.
At a speed difficult for the eye to follow, he reviewed the footage and conducted a thorough analysis of Kwon O-jin’s movements.
‘Impressive.’
Witnessing Kim Si-hu’s commanding presence, I let out a brief exclamation.
-Click.
“Well then. A shorter shaft with a longer blade would suit you better than your previous spear, hyung.”
“You can determine that just from watching that?”
“Yep.”
Kim Si-hu nodded matter-of-factly and continued.
“Even with the same weapon, everyone has their own style. You don’t use the spear’s long reach to control distance—you’re the type to close in and penetrate. So.”
Click. He retrieved a pen and sketched a simple diagram on paper.
“A crescent-blade spear with a shorter shaft and emphasis on slashing would be perfect for you.”
“….”
Was this how it felt when Riak looked at me?
Witnessing Kim Si-hu analyze my movements in such a short time and identify the optimal weapon filled me with a sense of awe.
“Then I’ll start manufacturing this along with an improved wire shooter version. It should take about a week.”
A week.
The perfect amount of time to heal the internal injuries sustained in my battle with Ashad Khan.
“Thanks. I appreciate it. Just let me know if you need anything.”
If there was something I could do after he’d gone this far for me, I was willing to move heaven and earth to provide it.
“Anything?”
Kim Si-hu’s eyes sparkled with mischief.
“Then….”
I turned to glance at Han Manager with a faint smile.
“Could you help our old man out, hyung? The executives have been giving him a real hard time lately.”
“….”
I’d thought he was just a kid, but it seemed he had the soul of an old man.
“That’s not something you need to worry about.”
Han Manager placed a hand on top of Kim Si-hu’s head.
“Hehe! Okay!”
Kim Si-hu burst into laughter and rose from his chair.
“Then I’m off to make some equipment!!!”
Pitter-patter-patter.
He dashed off somewhere, his white coat fluttering behind him.
“He’s a good kid.”
“Well, his personality is a bit eccentric, but….”
He watched the boy’s retreating figure with a satisfied expression in his eyes.
“Do you have a plan after the weapon is made?”
A plan, he says.
Most of the Valhalla Guild members were in critical condition, so it wasn’t quite the right time to visit the Valhalla Guild directly.
What I needed to do right now was.
“I’m planning to gather Holy Relics. As many as possible.”
The Quest of the Black Heaven.
I intended to focus on the Quest that would allow me to obtain an ancient constellation for the time being.
‘While hunting monsters, I can also level up my Lightning Technique skill.’
Whether it would rise as easily as before, I wasn’t sure.
In any case, the only way to catch two birds with one stone—both the Lightning Technique skill and the Quest—was to enter a Gate and hunt monsters.
“Do you need a lot of money?”
“No, that’s not it. I need a lot of Holy Relics themselves.”
“Hmm. In that case….”
He started to continue but stopped himself with a slight shake of his head.
“No. It’s nothing.”
“…?”
What was that about?
“Is something on your mind?”
“It’s not that… Well, there’s been a hot Gate recently for Holy Relic farming.”
A hot Gate, he says.
“There’s a Gate in the Busan area with some… unusual phenomena occurring.”
“An unusual phenomenon?”
“Yes. The monsters inside that Gate apparently carry not one, but two Holy Relics each. And their quality isn’t particularly poor either.”
What?
‘Holy Relics can be duplicated?’
What kind of insane experience event is this?
I’d been worried about how many Holy Relics I’d need to complete the Quest, so hearing this news was more than welcome.
“However… there is a problem with you going, Kwon O-jin.”
“What kind of problem?”
Han Manager smiled awkwardly and scratched his head.
“All the monsters coming from inside are powerful 5-Star or higher creatures. For someone who just recently became 4-Star, it would be quite difficult…”
“I’m 5-Star.”
“Pardon?”
His eyes widened in shock.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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